Neutral
by BuzzCat
Summary: Castiel is avoiding Dean, and the reason happens to be hiding under a thankfully baggy trenchcoat. Of course, trenchcoats can only hide secrets for so long and when things come to light, it's too late to take flight. Warning: Destiel, Mpreg, and c-section birth.


Castiel sighed as he sank onto the motel bed, hand flopping on top of his slightly distended belly concealed by the bulky trench coat. He looked down at it in annoyance. It would be bigger soon. By best estimate, he had two weeks before Dean would figure it out. And then he was done. Dean would figure out he was pregnant and Castiel would go…somewhere. He hadn't quite figured out where. He knew his brothers and sisters wouldn't accept him if they knew, so it would be somewhere on Earth. Perhaps Sam knew somewhere nice this time of year. Somewhere warm, but not hot. Somewhere without angels.

Just then, Dean opened the hotel room door and jumped when he saw Castiel,

"Jesus, Cas! Warn a guy!"

"I apologize. I was not aware you needed a warning of my presence," he said as he stood, "Next time I will not arrive without invitation."

"You don't need an invitation, just…say something if you're here."

"Very well." said Castiel. Dean dropped his stuff on the tiny table and walked to the mini fridge,

"So what's up?" he said as he popped the lid on a bottle of beer. Cas looked up, then back at Dean,

"A ceiling with stains of dubious origins." he replied. Dean rolled his eyes,

"No, why are you here?"

"Must there be a reason?"

"With you, there always is." said Dean under his breath, taking a swig of beer. Castiel deliberated on his answer. He actually had no reason for being here. Perhaps the offspring inside him had drawn him back to Earth, but Castiel couldn't say that. It just felt natural to check in with the Winchesters. At last, Castiel replied,

"It has been two months since you last called. I wished to…check in, with you." The slang felt stranger on his tongue than in his thoughts, but Dean smiled so he deemed it a success,

"Well, I could have used you a couple other times, not gonna lie."

"Then why did you not call?" asked Castiel, tilting his head to the side and furrowing his brow. Dean looked into his beer,

"Well, the last time we talked, we…you know. And then you weren't there so I figured…You know what? It's complicated." said Dean, his tone defensive. Castiel cocked his head to the side again,

"Is it customary to remain after copulation?"

"Yes! Dude, you should have at least said you were leaving." said Dean, drinking the last of his beer.

"You never stay with your women." said Castiel matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, well, this is different, Cas. I actually know you." Castiel still wasn't sure what the difference was, but he let it go. Now even Cas could sense how uncomfortably tense the room was,

"I will go."

"Wait, Cas…" But he was already gone.

The next time the pair saw each other was three months later. Dean was fighting a vampire and the creature's jaws were closing in on his throat. He saw a bright light, instantly closing his eyes as some instinct recognized what it was. The vamp was gone, burned to ashes, and the light receded to reveal Castiel. The angel seemed to sag, the fight going out of him. For the first time in Dean's life, he thought Castiel looked tired. He ran to the angel, resting him on his shoulder. Castiel was surprisingly compliant.

"Let's get you back to the car." muttered Dean.

"Alright." said Castiel in a small voice. As he walked/was carried, Castiel's fuzzy brain pondered this predicament. He hadn't planned to interfere at all in the Winchester's lives until after the offspring was born. He'd been keeping tabs, sure, but never anywhere that they could see him. He'd only stepped in because there was no way the situation ended with Dean as anything other than a vampire. The bright flash that had once come so easily now nearly drained his grace. Carrying a child was taking its toll. Dean laid him in the back of the car and soon climbed into the driver's seat. The Impala purred to life around Castiel and Dean reach his hand around the seat, brushing it against Castiel's,

"We're getting you back to Bobby's." It was the last thing Castiel heard before he, for the first time, fell asleep.

When Castiel woke up, he was lying flat on a couch. Sunshine streamed in through the windows and he could hear voices in the kitchen,

"Dude, what happened to him? You wouldn't say anything last night." That was Sam.

"I dunno, man. He did his angel light thing and just about collapsed. Whatever this is, it isn't good," Castiel could practically see Dean wiping his hand down his face, fingers brushing the freckles as he always did when he used that tone of voice, "I think there's something he isn't telling us. I mean, three months, without a word?"

"To be fair, you refused to call him."

"Yeah, but I figured he'd at least drop by or something." said Dean, Castiel tried to sit up. All his muscles were surprisingly sore and he groaned. The voices in the kitchen stopped and two pairs of footsteps approached. Dean soon came into view, "Hey man. How're you feeling?"

"Sore." said Castiel, fighting a grimace. Sam handed him a glass of water and two small red pills. Castiel stared at the pills in confusion,

"What do I do with these?"

"Swallow them. They'll help with the soreness." said Sam. Castiel drank the water but left the pills. His biology was fragile enough as an angel carrying a hybrid child without introducing human medication to the equation. Sam frowned at the refusal of medication but said nothing. Both Dean and Sam sank into chairs across from Castiel, Dean leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. They stared at Castiel, who stared back. Dean broke first,

"C'mon Cas, what's up? And don't say the ceiling. Something's wrong and we need to know what."

"I am perfectly fine." he said. Dean snorted,

"Yeah, and Sam's the picture of mental health. Don't bullshit us."

"There is nothing wrong." Castiel maintained. Sam gave him the look that Castiel had come to associate with Dean lying about his emotions and Sam said,

"You can tell us, Cas. We won't, I don't know, be mad or anything." Castiel wasn't sure what to do with that. If they hadn't figured it out yet, perhaps they wouldn't. Then again, the bulky trench coat he wore could easily hide the definite bulge of his stomach. He moved to fiddle with the sleeve of it but there was no trench coat. Just the suit jacket Jimmy had worn for years. He revised his previous thought. If they hadn't figured it out yet, they wouldn't. Castiel sighed,

"It's…angel matters. I can't explain."

"Try."

"There are no words. It will cease to be an issue in its own time." said Castiel. Dean stood up and extended a hand to help pull Castiel up,

"That's good. We don't need the one non-dick angel we know to go crazy with stress. And hey," he patted Castiel's grown stomach, "lay off the burgers. I didn't even know you liked food that—" Dean was suddenly cut off because Castiel's offspring chose that exact moment to give an almighty kick exactly where Dean's hand was. Dean jumped back like he'd been burned. In a moment, his gun was out and the panic was in his voice, "What the hell are you?"

"Dean, what's going on?" said Sam, also standing but leaving his weapons away.

"Cas's stomach poked me. It. Poked. _Me_."

"Dean…" Castiel held his hands up, having found that this was often the way to calm the hysterical. The gun in Dean's hand was pointed at Castiel's face,

"No! No, you don't say anything unless you are going to explain what the hell is going on. Is this that angel business you mentioned?" he said. Castiel sighed. The jig was up.

"I may have been economical with the truth. The angel business I mentioned does not exist. I am in the process of procreating."

"What?" asked Dean. The gun fell to his side and he and Sam had the same confused expression on their face. Sam's expression quickly cleared up,

"No way. Wha—Cas, how does that even work?"

"I imagine it works the same way as with humans."

"But your vessel—"

"Will change to accommodate my needs."

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" said Dean. Sam turned to his brother,

"Cas is pregnant." said Sam. Dean was silent before shaking his head,

"What?"

"Sam speaks the truth." said Castiel, his hands coming to grasp each other beneath his bump. The child had been active for some time, nudging his hands even now. Dean turned to look at him,

"How far?"

"Five months." replied Castiel. He could almost see Dean going through the math. Dean's eyes widened the second it clicked,

"No fu—"

"What? What is it?" asked Sam. Dean and Castiel ignored him. Dean pointed at Castiel's abdomen,

"Five months?"

"I believe that's what I said."

"Holy—wha—I need a drink." Dean almost ran to the kitchen, foregoing the beer for something stronger. Sam watched in confusion. Castiel sighed and turned to Sam, already regretting what he had to say,

"Dean and I copulated five months ago."

"Wait, so," Sam pointed at Castiel's abdomen, "that's Dean's baby?" Castiel's silence was answer enough. Sam followed his brother straight to the whiskey. Castiel followed him, albeit much slower. Upon entering the kitchen, Dean rounded on him,

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Never." Castiel didn't see any point in hiding the truth. If it had been up to him, Dean Winchester would have known of the offspring.

"'Never'? What the hell, Cas?" said Dean. Castiel shrugged, a peculiar motion that did not at all look at home on his shoulders,

"I see it as a distraction from the goal of killing Lucifer."

"'A distraction?' Yeah, you could call it that." Dean poured himself another glass of whiskey. Castiel stood there a moment longer. He had nothing else to say to them.

"I will go now." With a flutter of wings, he was gone. Dean and Sam could only look at each other before drinking some more.

The final time that Castiel saw the Winchesters was four months later. He was due to give birth any day and there was no mistaking his pregnant belly for simple obesity. One second he'd been in his newly acquired home in Arizona, the next he was standing in Bobby Singer's living room. A bowl with burnt summoning materials was on the table. Sam, Dean, and Bobby were all in the room. Dean's eyes seemed to be glued to Castiel's stomach. Sam looked slightly concerned as per normal, and Bobby just said,

"I don't know how the hell you got yourself into this Cas, but I sincerely hope you have a plan for getting out."

"I believe the child will accomplish this through ways known to itself." he said. Bobby nodded, now staring at the bump that was Dean and Castiel's child. At last, he walked away, saying,

"I need a drink."

"Me too." said Sam, following Bobby out. Castiel stared at Dean and Dean stared at Castiel's belly. For a long time, they were quiet. Finally, Dean tore his gaze away to examine the floor,

"So, when are you due?"

"Any day."

"Yeah, we figured. Do you know…you know, where it's going to come out?"

"I believe an incision will have to be made."

"You mean like a C-section?" asked Dean. Cas cocked his head to the side,

"I am unaware of what that is."

"They make a cut and…" Dean made some kind of gesture at his midriff. Castiel nodded. Dean mopped a hand down his face,

"Man, that's rough." he shuffled his feet a bit, "Look Cas, I'm sorry about everything."

"Well isn't this nauseating?" said a new voice. Castiel turned, barely able to believe what he was hearing.

"Gabriel?" Sure enough, the archangel was leaned against the kitchen entryway. Dean pulled out his gun and shoved it in Gabriel's face,

"And what do you think you're doing here?"

"Relax Rambo. Just doing my job."

"And what's that?"

"Look kiddo, it isn't worth my time to explain all of it. Long story short, when an angel is pregnant, I gotta show up at least once. Give my blessing or some crap, I dunno. Why do you think I was the one who told Mary she was up the duff with my half-brother?" he said. He walked past Dean, straight to Castiel and circled the pregnant angel, muttering to himself, "Looks good…on track….check…" He tapped Castiel's stomach and Castiel felt something strange spread from the point of contact,

"What did you do?" he asked with mild curiosity.

"Gave my blessing. If I don't bless you, you can't give birth."

"What, Cas's is giving birth? Now?" asked Dean loudly. Gabriel gave him a look,

"Don't be ridiculous. I gave him the capability, not the immediate need. Although," he looked down at the bump again, "you aren't far off."

"What kinda window are we looking at?" asked Dean.

"One day, two tops. Wait, why am I even telling you this?"

"Because I'm the father, asshole." Dean growled out. Gabriel's eyebrows went up,

"Really? Well I have to admit I sorta saw that coming. Anyway, Daddy-o, B-Day is coming up so pencil that in on your calendar. Ciao!" And Gabriel was gone. Castiel stroked his fingers absentmindedly over his belly, then seemed to come back to himself. He hurried to gather his trenchcoat,

"One day, two at the most. I thought I had more time. I need to prepare." He was about to take off before Dean put a hand on his arm,

"Dude, stay here. Prepare here."

"But—"

"Castiel." said Dean. Castiel sighed,

"Yes, Dean?"

"Man, stay here. Please."

"Why?" asked Castiel, head cocked to the side.

"Because I need to know you're safe. Otherwise you're going to go off God-knows-where, try to have a kid and something will go wrong because with this family something _always_ goes wrong—"

"'Family?'"

"Yeah. Family." said Dean, leaning in to put emphasis on the last word. Castiel gave a tiny smile,

"I didn't know I was family."

"Dude, you've been family for years now. Which is why the family curse obviously extends to you. So do me a solid and stay here. Just until this whole thing is over."

"But it won't ever be over." said Castiel quietly. Dean waved a hand, as if waving away the issue,

"Of course it will. Gabriel showed up and did his blessing thing and you'll be good to go in a couple of days."

"But what about after the child is born? I never anticipated fatherhood being a part of my life. I would venture to suppose that you never expected this either. Neither of us are equipped to give this child what it needs." he said. Dean thought back to Ben. He'd been a father. For a few days, he'd been a father. And damn it, he'd been good at it too. And here was Cas. Cas, who'd raised him from perdition. Cas, who he'd seriously liked for a while now. Cas, who was pregnant with his kid. Dean squared his shoulders with new resolve,

"You know what Cas? I didn't see this one coming. But you know what? We can roll with this. That's what this family does. Shit happens, and we roll with it. But this time, this one time, we might actually be rolling with something good. So do me a favor, and stick around. Have the kid. We can figure it out from there. That's what we do." Dean stared at Cas, trying to get his point across. Castiel nodded slightly,

"Very well." And that was that.

The next day proved rather uneventful. All three humans tiptoed around the angel like he could blow at any moment, which was technically true. Cas tried to help, writing warding symbols around the house but every time he got off the couch either Dean, Sam, or Bobby would give him an eye and tell him to sit his feathery ass back down. It was dinner before Castiel commented,

"You are aware that I have been travelling up until this point and yet nothing terrible has happened to the child, correct?"

"Yes we're aware, angel boy. Which means you've been taking irresponsible chances. You got twenty-six hours left on the clock. Shut up and sit it out for twenty-six hours."

"But—"

"Cas. Please." said Sam. Castiel said nothing more on the subject.

The day after. Thursday. Castiel couldn't help but smile at the irony. Even now, he could hear whispered prayers, but he had learned long ago to ignore them. Trying to answer prayers was something more complicated than he had time for right now anyway. Dean and Sam had both gotten up early and now sat beside Castiel on the couch.

"So what should we expect?" asked Dean.

"I don't know. I've never seen an angel give birth. As far as I know, it hasn't happened in centuries."

"Okay. Do you know anything about what's going to happen?"

"There will be pain. Possibly blood. And there will be a child at the end."

"Well, that's…specific." said Dean, wiping a hand down his face. Castiel simply nodded. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain ripping through his abdomen. He tensed against Dean, unintentionally grabbing the man's hand. Sam jumped back and Dean grabbed at his lover, "Cas? Cas, was that—"

"Yes," said Cas, panting, "The child is prepared to enter the world."

"Do we, do we need anything else?"

"Yes."

"What?" asked Sam. Castiel grimaced again and tensed,

"Nothing we have time for. The child is coming. Fast. Much…much faster than expected."

"Sam, get Bobby." said Dean, already off the couch and trying to get Castiel to lay down on it. Sam got up and pulled out his phone, dialing Bobby. After explaining the situation, Bobby replied,

"I'll be there in half an hour. Keep everything in until then."

"Got it." Sam snapped his phone shut, "Bobby'll be here in thirty. Says to keep everything…in, until he gets here."

"That will be more difficult said than done." said Cas, sweat already breaking out across his forehead.

"No worries, Cas. We got this." said Dean.

"I'm going to go get blankets." said Sam, taking the stairs two at a time. Dean and Cas both knew Dean was lying and barely suppressing panic. Dean pulled out his knife, flipping it open and then just staring dumbly at Castiel's belly, "Where do I cut? How deep?" Castiel used his finger to indicate a line on his belly,

"About half an inch. More if necessary." he said. Dean nodded, readying himself,

"If I have to cut it out, why are you having…angel-contractions?"

"Because the child is full-term and is going to push its way out. If you do not cut it out soon, it will push through my skin and I will die."

"Shit." Dean laid knife to Cas's skin. He tried to make it a steady cut but his hand was shaking. Blood seeped out and a blue light seemed to glow from within Cas.

"The child's Grace." said Castiel through gritted teeth. Dean nodded. At least he knew how deep to cut. Sam came back down the stairs in a clatter but stopped at the foot of the stairs, holding blankets and watching in anxious horror. The knife moved further along and the light grew more and more visible. Finally, Dean deemed it deep enough.

"Now what?" he asked, wiping at the sweat on his brow. Castiel's blood smeared from Dean's hand to mingle with the sweat on his forehead.

"Reach in and pull it out."

"What?"

"NOW, DEAN!" Castiel yelled for the first time. Dean shook his head,

"Cas, I'll hurt—"

"Dean! I will be dead in ten minutes if you do not remove the child." Castiel growled angrily. Dean shook himself and grimaced as he reached into Castiel. He tried not to focus on the squishing around his hands, instead finding what he best guessed was the child. He pulled and Castiel screamed.

"Cas! Cas, how do I do this?"

"QUICKLY!" yelled Cas.

"But—"

"It will hurt more if you don't."

"Right." muttered Dean under his breath. In one swoop, he pulled the child from Castiel. It was covered in something slimy that Dean preferred not to think about. The important thing was the being he held in his hand. A tiny baby girl, blue swirling beneath her skin. He held her out, "Sam, take her." Sam ran over and held out his blanket-covered hand, accepting the screaming little girl and wrapping her tightly, using a washcloth to wipe away the slime. Dean stepped over to his angel, tears in his eyes,

"You did it, Cas. She's here."

"I know, Dean. Please…" He raised a weak hand to gesture at the bleeding slice in his abdomen. Dean nodded,

"Got it." Sam had thought to bring down dental floss and a needle. Dean grabbed it and threaded the needle, sewing Castiel up in no time. The angel sighed, still grimacing in pain. Dean frowned in concern,

"Can't you just…mojo yourself good?"

"No. Giving birth to our daughter required much of my Grace. I will be weakened for weeks."

"Okay." Dean looked over at Sam, who was looking down at the baby girl. The expression on his face said he didn't really know what to do with the baby besides not drop it and pray it was quiet. Dean held out his arms and Sam eagerly handed the baby back. Dean held her down to Castiel,

"Wanna hold her?" he asked with a grin. Castiel looked away,

"No."

"What?" asked Dean, a disbelieving grin on his face. Castiel shook his head,

"No."

"But…she's your daughter." The grin fell. Dean unconsciously drew the baby close to his chest as if to protect her from this unforseen rejection. She snuggled in against the warm body, would-be cries quieting to snuffles.

"She is a nephilim."

"So?"

"Oh." said Sam, eyes widening. Dean turned to him,

"The fu-," he looked down at his daughter and rolled his eyes, "_heck_ is a nephilim?"

"Half human, half angel." said Sam.

"Yeah. That's her."

"They're evil." said Sam. There wasn't a sound. Dean stared, then scoffed,

"She was just born! She can't be evil."

"There's never been a case of a good nephilim." said Castiel, still grimacing with pain. Dean shook his head, pulling the girl even closer until she was almost squished into his chest,

"No! No, we are not killing my daughter."

"Nobody said anything about killing anyone." said Sam, his hands up in surrender.

"The child must die." Castiel's voice was strangely firm. There would be no disagreeing. Dean glared at Castiel,

"If you knew there was a good chance of you dying, and you knew that you would have to kill our child, why'd you carry it? Don't give me some bullshit about how angels can't abort things because there's no way that's true."

"I am unclear as to the purpose of the bovine feces."

"Dammit Cas!" said Dean. The hand not holding his daughter went to his hip. The newborn chose just that moment to start crying, wailing her displeasure to the world. Dean shot Cas another glare before turning his attention to the baby, "Shush, sweetheart. Daddy's here; it's all good. I won't let them hurt you." He bounced the baby, humming something beneath his breath. She didn't stop crying. Dean sighed, "She's hungry. Do we have an action plan for this?"

"What?" asked Sam. Dean rolled his eyes,

"Cas, do you nurse her or what?"

"She feeds on formula and Grace. I will return with the formula." Before either Winchester could say a word, the angel was gone in a ruffle of feathers. Dean sighed exasperatedly, still bouncing his daughter. Sam stepped closer, looking at the infant,

"She's…"

"Perfect." said Dean in a tone not to be disagreed with. Sam nodded,

"Yeah. Cute." he stared at the baby for a moment, "Can I hold her?"

"Dude, no. You were going to kill her a minute ago. Literally, a minute ago." Dean shifted the baby back to being pressed tight to him, having relaxed with Sam like he had for so many years. Sam shrugged,

"With the lives we lead, this might be my one chance to be an uncle. Please?" Dean tried not to look at his brother, he really did, because he knew Sam would have the puppy eyes that had gotten him whatever he wanted for the entirety of his life. But Dean looked and sure enough, the eyes were out and he couldn't say no. Besides, maybe Sam would see his point of view once he realized that this was just a baby, a baby just like every other baby with the exception of an otherworldly parent. He shifted his daughter, preparing to hand her to Sam,

"Support her head."

"I know how to hold a baby, Dean." said Sam, accepting the child into his arms. Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sam naturally pulled the baby close to him, not even trying to stop the smile that blossomed on his face,

"She…nevermind."

"What?" asked Dean, slightly grumpy. Only he was allowed to hold the baby, even if Sam was holding her right and everything. Sam shook his head,

"Nothing, really."

"Sammy…"

"She needs a name."

"Why would that be nothing?" asked Dean. Sam couldn't quite meet his brother's eye,

"In case she doesn't live long enough for it to matter." There was silence between the two. Dean squared his shoulders,

"Well she's getting a name. Maybe Cas has something."

"Dean," said Sam hesitantly, not looking up from his niece, "he intends to kill her."

"Nah. I think he wouldn't have carried her for months if he wasn't at least thinking about keeping her." he said. Sam shook his head, still cradling the little girl,

"Dean. He's an angel. Don't you think they have some sort of…code about preserving life?"

"Have you seen _anything_ like that so far? He's been helping us waste shi—_stuff_, since he first showed up. Why the he—heck, would that have any effect now? Cas won't kill her." said Dean with certainty. Sam didn't look convinced, but said nothing. He turned his attention back to the baby in his arms. Dean stepped forward and took his daughter back. She scuffled a bit before settling back into the warmth of her father's side. Dean smiled down at her for a moment, "Jill."

"Jill?" asked Sam. Dean nodded, smiling down at his daughter. Sam watched for a moment. In all the time since Dean had come to get him that night at Stanford, possibly even before then, he'd never seen his brother so happy. "Jill." he said in agreement. There was a sound of feathers and the two turned to see Castiel leaning heavily against the couch. Dean kept Jill in his arms as he put a hand on Castiel's shoulder,

"Cas? CAS!" Castiel collapsed against the couch, unconscious. Dean kept a firm hold of Jill as he tried to one-handedly haul Castiel onto the couch. Sam ran to the kitchen, grabbing a white rag and wetting it in cold water. He hurried back to Dean and Castiel, helping Dean finally get Castiel hauled onto the couch. Dean passed Jill off to Sam, "We need to find a basket or something for this kid."

"I know," said Sam, not noticing the surprising ease with which he pulled Jill to his shoulder. Dean grabbed the wet rag and pressed it Cas's forehead, questioning even as he did so,

"What's the point of this? He's an angel, it's not like he has a fever."

"I dunno; just do it." said Sam, holding Jill. Thankfully, Castiel quickly came to, sitting straight up and batting the rag off of his brow. The angel reached into his pocket and pulled out a container of formula. He handed it to Sam, saying,

"Feed her." Sam nodded and walked to the kitchen, taking Jill and the formula with him. Dean squatted until he was at eye-level with Cas's prone figure on the couch,

"Jill. Her name is Jill Winchester." Whatever had been clouding Castiel's mind cleared and he looked at Dean,

"She cannot live, Dean. She will bring death and destruction to the world and I will not have that laid on my shoulders."

"Cas, she won't bring death and destruction to the world. She isn't friggin' Lucifer. Just…give her a week. If she starts projecting spawn-of-Satan vibes, then we'll talk."

"I am not Satan. Neither are you. She is not spawn of Satan."

"Exactly! So she's good, right?"

"Dean, no one is entirely good or evil. You cannot say that she is good."

"But she'll be good if we _raise_ her to be good, right?" said Dean. He had to convince Cas this was a good thing. He'd only known his daughter a grand total of half an hour, but he would fight tooth and nail for her to make it to her first birthday alive. No angel was going to take her away. Cas seemed about to speak, but was silenced when Gabriel walked in from the other room,

"Well isn't this the cutest picture ever. Say, where's the bouncing baby? I need to bless the thing before I can get back to partying on the coasts. There's this one girl there, biggest—"

"Shut it Gabriel." growled Dean. Sam walked in from the kitchen, Jill cradled in one arm and the other holding the bottle of formula to her mouth. He saw Gabriel and stopped dead,

"What's he doing here?" Sam adjusted his posture ever-so-slightly, shielding Jill from Gabriel. Gabriel scoffed at Sam's efforts,

"I'm hurt. Dude, I'm just here to bless the midget so I can go get my groove on."

"Gabriel, she is nephilim." said Castiel, his tone serious and eyes narrowed. Gabriel blew a raspberry,

"Like I care. Listen, the way I see it, this whole war thing Mikey and Lucy have going on is coming to a head fairly soon. Someone is gonna win and I don't care who it is, but we gotta have a back-up plan for when shi—"

"_Things_." said Dean. Gabriel rolled his eyes,

"_Things_, hit the fan. Both of my idiot brothers are gonna end up dictators, and dictatorships just get overthrown. It might take a few eons, but it'll happen. If you idiots intend to ever make it past day one of Mikifer's reign, you might want an angel 100% on your side. That little girl might be the closest you're going to get." he said. Dean pointed at the archangel,

"I thought you were the angel 100% on our side." he said. Gabriel scoffed,

"I'm on the side of whichever plan involves me not dead." He stepped forward and touched Jill's forehead. A light shimmering passed over her and she giggled slightly. Gabriel gave her a half smile, "Cute kid." he muttered under his breath. He stepped back,

"Her name is Liv."

"No, her name is Jill." said Dean. Gabriel shrugged,

"You can call her whatever the heck you want. Angels, even half-angels, are named directly through God, who tells me, and I tell you. God says her name is Liv."

"You can talk to God?" asked Sam, perking up. The entire group looked excited before Gabriel sighed,

"If I could, don't you think things would be going a little differently? No, it's more of a one-way line. I just get orders from on high. Granted I haven't actually obeyed in forever, but this one seemed like it might actually be interesting. Anyway, I gotta go. There's a babe in a bay in Monteray calling my name." Just like that, he was gone. Sam looked down at his niece,

"'Liv'. Seems nice enough. I think it means 'protector' or something."

"Well that isn't foreboding at all." said Dean with an eye roll. He stepped up to his brother and took Jill from him, the formula bottle never leaving her mouth as she switched carriers. Gabriel suddenly popped up by Castiel, who was still lying on the couch,

"By the way, that," he pointed at Jill, "not evil. Like, I'm pretty sure nothing is actually born evil. Raise her better than Dad raised you and you'll be fine." Gabriel disappeared before he could specify whose dad he was talking about. Dean looked down at Jill, a wide smile breaking across his face,

"Hear that, Jilly? Not evil. You're gonna be the best little girl in the world, aren't you? Yes, yes you are." Sam tried not to laugh at his brother, but honestly couldn't help it. Castiel looked confused,

"Why are you speaking to her like that?"

"Because she's a baby, man. As in, small-infant-who-you-will-not-be-killing." he said, glaring at Castiel. Castiel slowly got off the couch, wincing as he stood,

"Gabriel has not always told the truth. She could still—"

"Cas, she isn't evil. Just…just hold her." said Sam. Dean walked up and placed Jill in Castiel's lap, moving slow enough Cas saw him coming but not so fast that he was startled to discover his daughter was in his lap. Hesitantly, Castiel picked her up, cradling her as best he could while still keeping her at least a foot away from his body. Dean held the formula as Jill looked over at Castiel, smiling. Castiel pulled her closer. He brushed his thumb over her forehead and was whisked away in a sea of possibilities. Good, bad, saving, killing. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory all flashed before his eyes. There were so many options, so many choices. Jill's path was no more set than anyone else's. He removed his fingers from her forehead and leaned back against the couch,

"She is not evil. She is…neutral."

"Good. Now feed her." said Dean, thrusting the formula at Castiel. Castiel slowly nudged the baby's lips with the bottle. She quickly latched on, sucking happily. Castiel smiled slightly as Jill looked up at him.

_Neutral._


End file.
